China has again reiterated its rhetoric claiming ‘sovereignty’ over Arunachal Pradesh after India outrightly rejected Beijing's attempt to rename places in the state.
In a regular press conference, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, "Zangnan (Arunachal Pradesh) is part of China's territory. In accordance with relevant stipulations of the administration of geographical names of the State Council, competent authorities of the Chinese government have standardised the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China's sovereign rights."
This comes after the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said that China's attempt to rename regions in Arunachal Pradesh holds no value as the state is an integral part of India. Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in an official statement, "This is not first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright."
"Arunachal Pradesh an integral, inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality," he further said.
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday released the standardised names of 11 places for Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls "Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet". It was issued in accordance with regulations on geographical names issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.
The ministry, as reported by PTI citing Global Times, also gave precise coordinates, including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks and two rivers and listed the category of places' names and their subordinate administrative districts.
Notably, this is the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China’s civil affairs ministry. The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal was released in 2017, and the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.
Meanwhile, as reported by ANI, the United States said it "strongly oppose" China's attempts to advance a claim over Indian territory, Arunachal Pradesh by renaming localities.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "This is another attempt by the Chinese claim on us, Indian territory. So the United States, as you know, has recognised that territory for a long time and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance a territory claim by renaming localities. And so, again, this is something that we have long stood by a few things."